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About Me & My Blog

I am a 20-something wife and mother. I converted to Mormonism when I was 15 and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was 18. I attended Brigham Young University for four years where I met my partner, a returned missionary. We now live in Canada, where my partner grew up and where he served his mission.

Shortly after the birth of our daughter we left the church. This blog serves as a record of why and what happened as a result. It also includes my thoughts and feelings about the process.

I will be honest. I will be open. I will try to be a voice of reason. Some will choose to be offended. True believing Mormons (TBM) might, if they even dare to read an "anti-Mormon" blog by an "apostate," accuse me of bitterness, hate, attacking the church, and any other number of things.

Too bad. I intend to "declare the truth, even with a loud voice," and "in soberness" even if some "[take] the truth to be hard" and "it [cuts] them to the very center."

PLEASE NOTE: Some of the info you'll find in the about section and sidebars on this blog are severely out of date (my daughter is now six, my son is two). But from time to time I will still post here.

Recommended Reading List & Other Media

Sunday, December 27, 2009

So apparently more changes are being made to the LDS church’s Young Women’s program. I already have issues with that program. The inequality in spending on the young men versus the young women for example, or the lessons {implicit or otherwise} that teach these impressionable girls that THEY are responsible for the thoughts and actions of the boys, or the “licked cupcake” lessons, etc. But when I read this article about the new changes I about near died when I got to the following quote:

The booklets are pink. "We are excited about the color of pink, because we think these young women are pink. They resonate to the softness and the femininity of that color. We want them to understand that they are soft, they are unique, they are feminine and that they don't have to be like the boys."

Oh yes, the young women are soft. They don’t have to be like the boys {code speak for “they SHOULDN’T be like the boys”}. Because, OMIGOD you guys, it would be HORRIBLE for a woman to be strong! Strong isn’t feminine enough, apparently. And heaven forbid the girls be like the boys…the boys who are regularly encouraged to plan for missions, college, and careers while the girls are in the room next door being taught the importance of making babies and how to apply makeup {I’m not kidding, folks. I swear to Google I had lessons on MAKEUP in my time in the Young Women’s program}.

There are a million ways in which the LDS church is anti-woman. Apologists and Feminist Mormon Housewives arguments to the contrary Mormonism and feminism are mutually exclusive. I’ve been considering for months writing a book on the very topic…and this quote has got me riled up enough that I might just do it. But I dunno. I get so pissed off about crap like this that I can barely see straight, never mind write coherently.

Just, ugh. BARF.

Maybe I’ll write more later when I’ve cooled down. For now let me just end with this…

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Hey all! I know I’ve been absent. But after my daughter’s birthday party and Adam’s finals are over I’m hoping to do some more journal posts.

Anyway, today I wanted to take just a sec to share a link someone shared with me. If you’re not aware, within Mormonism there’s a doctrine which allows living people to be baptized on behalf of people who have died. It’s one of the things that happens in Mormon temples. Mormons are only supposed to submit the names of deceased RELATIVES, a policy the church really doesn’t do much to enforce. Which is why Pope John Paul II was baptized a Mormon posthumously.

Yes, I’m serious.

The Pope.

Also? Jewish Holocaust victims, criminals, founding fathers, etc.

Speaking as someone who once held this view I will say this: Mormons just do NOT get how offensive this is to non-Mormons. They think they’re doing a good work. They think they’re making sure these people get into heaven. After all, if you don’t believe in Mormonism why does it matter? What’s the harm? They’re not hurting anyone. If you don’t buy into the idea of proxy baptism then it shouldn’t bother you, right?